Sun Aug 28 2011 22:15You Can't Be Serious:
It's time for another big HTML table! This time I'm interested in movie connections. IMDB's dataset relates movies to each other using many different predicates: "edited into", "remake of", "alternate language version of", and so on. I'm interested in two of the most common predicates, "referenced in" and "spoofed in". Specifically, I want to answer these questions:

What movies have been most influential on other movies?

Are there movies that are commonly parodied, but almost never referenced in earnest? (And vice versa.)

I think my table speaks for itself, but I'll give a legend above it and a little commentary below it. The table has two columns:

The most spoofed movies and TV shows (by number of "spoofed in" references)

The movies and TV shows most referenced in earnest (by number of "referenced in" references)

The little numbers are the counts of "spoofed in" or "referenced in" references for that movie or TV show.

A title in bold shows up on only one list. This doesn't mean that, for instance, "The X-Files" has never been spoofed, only that it's not spoofed enough to make it onto the "most spoofed" list. A title in italics shows up on both lists (or would, if I extended the lists a little bit), but it's in a much higher position on the "spoof" list (left column) or the "non-spoof" list (right column). If a title is neither bolded nor italicized, then it's in approximately the same position on the "spoof" and "non-spoof" lists.

At this point I should probably let the table do the talking, so here it is. If you hate data, you can skip the table.

Most Spoofed

Most Referenced Seriously

1

Star Wars 279

Star Wars 1793

2

The Wizard of Oz 199

The Wizard of Oz 1397

3

"Star Trek" 180

"Star Trek" 1270

4

The Godfather 155

The Godfather 737

5

The Matrix 148

Psycho 693

6

2001: A Space Odyssey 141

Casablanca 622

7

Psycho 139

Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back 587

8

Raiders of the Lost Ark 134

Jaws 585

9

Jaws 120

"The Simpsons" 573

10

Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back 119

Gone with the Wind 534

11

The Exorcist 96

King Kong 527

12

King Kong 96

The Terminator 485

13

"Batman" 95

E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial 449

14

Pulp Fiction 93

2001: A Space Odyssey 448

15

Titanic 93

"Sesame Street" 448

16

Superman 89

Raiders of the Lost Ark 440

17

E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial 86

Apocalypse Now 422

18

Apocalypse Now 85

Frankenstein 379

19

The Shining 84

The Exorcist 374

20

"The Twilight Zone" 83

"The Twilight Zone" 366

21

The Terminator 81

"Saturday Night Live" 363

22

Casablanca 75

Scarface 361

23

Jurassic Park 74

Citizen Kane 358

24

Frankenstein 72

Pulp Fiction 350

25

Taxi Driver 71

Titanic 350

26

Rocky 68

The Shining 348

27

Alien 68

"Doctor Who" 348

28

The Silence of the Lambs 67

Alien 346

29

The Blair Witch Project 61

"The Oprah Winfrey Show" 344

30

Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo. 59

Taxi Driver 343

31

Terminator 2: Judgment Day 59

Ghost Busters 343

32

The Graduate 58

"The Flintstones" 334

33

Ghost Busters 57

Rocky 333

34

Gone with the Wind 56

Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi 328

35

Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi 56

The Matrix 326

36

It's a Wonderful Life 54

Back to the Future 323

37

Forrest Gump 52

The Silence of the Lambs 323

38

Goldfinger 52

"Batman" 317

39

Back to the Future 52

A Clockwork Orange 306

40

Dr. No 49

Terminator 2: Judgment Day 302

41

Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace 49

"Happy Days" 301

42

Gojira 48

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs 298

43

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde 48

The Sound of Music 293

44

Scarface 47

A Nightmare on Elm Street 289

45

Planet of the Apes 47

Superman 285

46

"Cops" 47

"Gilligan's Island" 284

47

"Scooby Doo, Where Are You!" 47

Dracula 282

48

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs 46

"Star Trek: The Next Generation" 276

49

Dracula 45

"The X Files" 275

50

The Sound of Music 44

"The Brady Bunch" 271

51

Reservoir Dogs 44

Dr. No 270

52

Batman 44

"I Love Lucy" 269

53

Citizen Kane 43

First Blood 268

54

Goodfellas 43

Night of the Living Dead 262

55

Night of the Living Dead 43

"American Idol: The Search for a Superstar" 261

56

Carrie 43

Gojira 259

57

"Jeopardy!" 43

Jurassic Park 258

58

Saturday Night Fever 42

Dirty Harry 257

59

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre 41

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre 254

60

"American Idol: The Search for a Superstar" 40

Vertigo 253

61

Mary Poppins 40

It's a Wonderful Life 253

62

Full Metal Jacket 40

Aliens 243

63

Dirty Harry 40

Planet of the Apes 243

64

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring 39

Batman 239

65

The Karate Kid 38

Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo. 236

66

"The Brady Bunch" 38

"Scooby Doo, Where Are You!" 231

67

Friday the 13th 37

The Graduate 229

68

RoboCop 37

Goldfinger 227

69

Risky Business 37

Deliverance 226

70

"I Love Lucy" 36

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring 221

71

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb 35

Blade Runner 220

72

"Star Trek: The Next Generation" 35

Die Hard 218

73

"The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" 34

"Jeopardy!" 215

74

Close Encounters of the Third Kind 34

"Seinfeld" 215

75

"Baywatch" 33

Rosemary's Baby 214

76

Scream 33

Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace 213

77

Flashdance 33

The Lion King 211

78

Lady and the Tramp 33

Saturday Night Fever 210

79

First Blood 33

Mary Poppins 206

80

"The Oprah Winfrey Show" 32

Bambi 205

81

Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory 32

The Karate Kid 202

82

The Lion King 32

"Friends" 201

83

"The Flintstones" 32

"The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" 200

84

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom 32

Halloween 199

85

"24" 32

Reservoir Dogs 199

86

"Mission: Impossible" 32

Top Gun 198

87

The Seven Year Itch 32

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb 196

88

Halloween 32

"The Muppet Show" 194

89

Spider-Man 31

"Buffy the Vampire Slayer" 193

90

Patton 31

"The Andy Griffith Show" 192

91

Rain Man 31

Forrest Gump 188

92

Thriller 31

Dawn of the Dead 188

93

Singin' in the Rain 30

Friday the 13th 188

94

Aliens 30

Jerry Maguire 187

95

A Clockwork Orange 30

Close Encounters of the Third Kind 186

96

Monty Python and the Holy Grail 30

Singin' in the Rain 185

97

Grease 30

"Dancing with the Stars" 180

98

Deliverance 30

West Side Story 177

99

Mission: Impossible 30

"Baywatch" 176

100

"The Sopranos" 30

Grease 175

I'm not terribly happy with this data. I suspect many "referenced in" references are actually spoofs, or are throwaway jokes that don't even rise to the level of "spoof". Are there really 179 non-spoof references to "The Lion King"? You know everyone's just riffing on the baby-lifting shot.

However, the reverse problem ("incorrectly regarded as spoofs") is nonexistent, so it's easy to spot things like The Blair Witch Project and "Cops" which only exist in our culture as things to make fun of; as well as things that are occasionally referenced seriously but much more frequently spoofed (The Matrix).